Bivona denied postponement of job hearing until after graduation

Nanci G. Hutson

Updated 11:36 pm, Tuesday, June 10, 2014

BROOKFIELD -- The public hearing sought by Schools Superintendent Tony Bivona in an effort to keep his job is now slated for two days before high school graduation, despite his efforts to change the date, his lawyer confirmed Tuesday.

Bivona said he wanted to postpone the hearing tentatively scheduled for June 19 so as not to overshadow the high school graduation celebration two days later. Bivona's lawyer, Leon Rosenblatt of West Hartford, said that request, which he made through the board's attorney, was denied.

The hearing before the Board of Education is required as part of Bivona's three-year employment contract before he can be fired. The contract extends to June 30, 2016.

Bivona is now on paid administrative leave after the school board voted unanimously May 14 to proceed with termination of his contract. Based on the contract, a hearing must be scheduled no later than 30 days after his request.

Bivona officially notified the board May 20 that he intends to have a public hearing before the board.

The contract, though, does allow those dates to be extended by mutual consent.

School board member Steve Harding said June 19 was selected as the tentative date because it falls within the contract's allowable time frame and suits the schedules of all seven board members.

The hearing must be posted as a special meeting. The posting has not yet made it through the Town Clerk's Office, though there is still time to give the requisite 24-hours notice.

Harding, a local attorney, said selecting a date for this type of hearing requires careful consideration to give fair access to all parties involved, including Bivona, witnesses and the board members who will be seated as hearing officers.

It is likely the hearing will require multiple evenings because of the complexities of the matter and the potential for numerous witnesses to testify, officials said.

But Harding said a June 19 hearing will in no way interfere with celebration of seniors' academic accomplishments at commencement. If it were a factor, he said, he would be the first one to argue for a postponement.

He said he suspects graduates and their families are far more focused on their events than employment issues pertaining to the superintendent.

The controversy related to financial management that prompted the board's decision to consider termination of Bivona's contract began at the start of the year, and Harding said it needs to be resolved expeditiously.

Art Colley, the school district's former director of finance, was forced to resign in February after an audit revealed that, over a two-year period, district personnel overspent the school budget by $1.2 million, allocating unauthorized town funds to cover those expenses. That is a violation of both state law and the Town Charter.

Rosenblatt has said Bivona was unaware of Colley's accounting procedures, and upon recognizing the problem, worked quickly to rectify the issues.

Neither Bivona nor the school board should be held accountable for the accounting lapses, he said. The financial errors were procedural, and all payments were deemed to be made for legitimate educational expense, with none misappropriated, he said.

"We want to make this a fair process, but it is also imperative that we do this as soon as we can," Harding said. "The quicker we get this done, the better it is for the school system."

After the public hearing, the board has 15 days to make a final decision.